Have you ever thought about the true meaning of the phrase, “on purpose?” In everyday language, doing something on purpose means you intended to do it – it wasn’t an accident. But the words hint at a deeper meaning. To do something on purpose means to act in alignment with your life’s purpose. To be on purpose means organizing your habits and your environment around the actions that serve your… Read More »Living “On Purpose”
Apparently, we’ve all been reading The Declaration of Independence wrong. In Happy for No Reason, Marci Shimoff explains what “the pursuit of happiness” actually meant: “Back in Jefferson’s day… the common usage of the word ‘pursue’ was not ‘to chase after.’ In 1776, to pursue something meant to practice that activity, to do it regularly, to make a habit of it.”1 So Jefferson meant that we should be free to… Read More »Don’t Chase Happiness, Practice It
The biggest obstacle to habit formation is inconsistency. Remember, creating a habit is like bushwhacking a new trail through the forest: If you don’t retrace your steps frequently, the path will quickly become overgrown and lost. The gold standard for overcoming this obstacle is to do the same thing, at the same time, in the same place, every single day. If you can do that, you’ll have a rock-solid habit.… Read More »The Two Kinds of Daily Habits
It’s New Year’s Day at 9am. The sky is overcast. The air is a crisp 42 degrees. We’re standing at the end of a dock on Lake Washington. We strip down to our swimsuits and jump in. Splash! The water is bitingly cold, almost painful. We stay in as long as we can – which isn’t very long – and dry ourselves off on the dock. It takes a long… Read More »Discomfort is Inevitable